01/04/2026
The PNM calls on the Prime Minister to move beyond trite social media statements, hold her Ministers accountable, and present a coherent, evidence-based plan to reduce school violence.
The recent statement issued by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on social media exposes to the nation her desperation to deflect from the abysmal failure of UNC’s poorly planned and haphazardly implemented School-Oriented Policing Initiative.
The nation’s children deserve far better than hot air in a plastic bag, rants on social media and vacuous ramblings in the Parliament.
The Prime Minister’s statement comes swiftly on the heels of a disappointing and underwhelming Parliamentary defense by the Minister of Education, Dr. Michael Dowlath, who failed to present a coherent, substantive contribution, or any semblance of a cogent policy for School-Oriented Policing.
The Minister’s failed contribution was in response to a motion moved by the PNM and piloted by Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, former Minister of Education. The Minister’s inability to sustain a full presentation, coupled with contradictory statements on school violence data, exposes serious deficiencies in both leadership and competence within the Ministry of Education.
The Prime Minister, in her attempt to shore up the UNC after today’s dismal Parliamentary performance, sinks even lower in this latest missive, launching yet another unhinged attack on citizens with her usual loose, and frankly tiresome allegations of, “fake elite”, “eat ah food” and “paedophile lodge members”.
Having been backed into a corner by the fact that the failure of the School-Oriented Policing Initiative has been admitted by not one, but two members of her own Cabinet, the Prime Minister lashed out at PNM constituencies with her now trademark vitriol, using condescending, insulting and divisive language; most unbecoming of her office.
It is noteworthy that the Prime Minister, a former Minister of Education, could have chosen to respond in the Parliament today, by making a substantial contribution on this most important issue which directly impacts the future of thousands of the nation's most vulnerable children. However, she chose to forego this opportunity, and lazily resorted to her default position of provocation and attempted distraction via social media rant.
The PNM warned from the outset that deploying police into schools without a clear framework, defined roles, stakeholder engagement, and strengthened student support services would fail. That prediction has now been confirmed beyond the shadow of a doubt by the floundering Minister of Education, and the hapless Minister of Homeland Security.
Yet, the Prime Minister persists with a narrow, reactionary approach focused on expulsions and arrests, with no credible plan to address the root causes of school violence.
The absence of a clear policy document, measurable outcomes, and transparency, alongside the systematic reduction of staff in critical support roles such as guidance councillors and school social workers, continues to undermine the system.
The nation elected the UNC to do the work of managing the education sector, the PNM calls on the Prime Minister to rant much less, and work more.
The People’s National Movement (PNM) condemns the Prime Minister for presiding over a failed School-Oriented Policing Initiative which, data shows, has offered no reduction in school violence to the nation’s students and teachers.
Pennelope Beckles MP
Leader of the Opposition
28th March 2026
